This I believe "American Dream--Legacy"

14th October 2011 This I Believe ‘American Dream--Legacy’  This I believe that the American Dream is not one of material success but to leave a legacy, some proof that we have been here, something so simple that we often overlook. I learned two hobbies years ago, needle point and genealogy research which I think helped me understand the importance of a legacy. During spring vacations, my maternal grandmother and I would sit for hours while she taught me needle point and how each stitch benefited the fabric. When completed it is a delicate accomplishment that will last almost more generations than you care to even think about. When you are 16 years old, that is a “gad-zillion years!” One summer, I asked her why she taught me how to needle point? She responded, “Ju-Ann, we are a peculiar people. We like to make and leave a legacy – a piece of ourselves that will let everyone know we have been here. Some people would consider that their off spring. Well ‘Maw’ taught me needle work. It is like giving a piece of yourself to make useful in your everyday lives. It is also giving someone something that cannot be duplicated.” I did not understand exactly what she was talking about. Years later, father and mother taught their hobby – genealogy research. Both had this hobby since the mid 1960s. I asked my father why he did all this research? “Bug,” he said “I want to leave a legacy to you and your children.” He further went to state, “I have not a great fortune to leave you, but this is hard work and dedication. It is my dream. I want you to be proud of who your ancestors are and that their blood is in this soil. We each contribute something collectively of how we lived.” Years later, one afternoon, I was going through an old travel trunk that belongs to a Johnny Walters. He was my g-g-grandmothers second son. The trunk was now over 110 years old. It holds various family memorabilia. I was arranging the items into a specific familial order. My daughter asked me what I was doing. Then it hit me. In this old cedar lined trunk is baby clothes, pictures, Bibles, objects, paper work – all of the dead. It is that legacy. This trunk is part of a testament, a treasure to have and look at. In that trunk is a picture of me standing in front of a house in Jackson, Mississippi that my father had built in 1962. This old house is still standing because it was a rarity due because of the foundation; it is a floating foundation it had. That is a legacy, a treasure, an American Dream, a hope (or whatever we call); because it something that someone left on this earth for someone in the future. I believe that the importance of our legacy is a piece of ourselves, our hopes and dreams that were realized; they are so simple that they can be overlooked; but, it lends credence that we have been here like my needlepoint or the genealogy research that will be here on earth long after I am gone. It too can be admired by and be of use many.